The need to effectively see a target and aim a weapon in the direction of the target is well-recognized. Auxiliary devices to facilitate illuminating a target or aiming a weapon are known. Examples of known auxiliary devices include scopes, visible and infrared illuminators, laser pointers, combined illuminator/laser pointer devices, night vision devices and infrared imagers. For convenience, these, and other, devices are generally referred to herein as auxiliary devices. Auxiliary devices are often mounted to weapons having rail mounting systems with a certain profile, for example a rail profile consistent with MIL-STD-1913 or a “Weaver” rail. It is desirable that the auxiliary device be quickly and easily securable to and removable from the rail. Although these rail profiles have tolerances, these tolerances can vary enough to cause auxiliary devices without the ability to accommodate different rail profiles and dimensions to either be too tight, thereby preventing a user from attaching the auxiliary device to the weapon, or too loose, thereby allowing the auxiliary device to rattle. An auxiliary device that is too loose may fall off during weapon fire or may fail to maintain bore sight after continued use.
In addition, users may encounter problems caused by the impact force to an auxiliary device mounted to a firearm when the firearm discharges. When a firearm discharges, recoil of the firearm is a common result. Recoil (often called kickback or simply kick) is generally understood to be the backward momentum of a firearm when it is discharged. Impact forces can cause damage to an auxiliary device mounted to the firearm. For example, the power supply (such as a battery) of an auxiliary device may be damaged due to the impact forces caused when the weapon is discharged. The batteries may sustain physical damage to the positive and/or negative terminals as a result of impact force against the interior of the housing in which they are enclosed. The physical damage may be in the form of deformed positive and/or negative terminals and/or shorts between the electrode in the battery and the positive and negative terminals resulting in a decrease or complete failure in power supply. This damage may further cause the batteries to rupture and leak caustic or corrosive material into the housing of the auxiliary device. These impact forces may also cause the batteries to shift at least partially out of alignment with contacts and result in a power failure.